Dolphin draws crowds to banks of the South River

People have been gathering along the South River in Old Bridge and East Brunswick for the past several days to watch a bottlenose dolphin.

A dolphin swims in the South River on the Old Bridge-East Brunswick line (CBS New York)

It's a carnival atmosphere as young and old watch from the Old Matawan Road bridge for the mammal to surface again. Police were directing traffic as drivers slowed on nearby Route 18 to catch a glimpse of the dolphin. The police also kept people from jumping into the water.

“It keeps coming up, you’ll see him right in this area, or she, it’s really pretty. It’s beautiful to see,” resident Veronica Lonseth told CBS New York.

Volunteer Bill Schultz from The Marine Mammal Stranding Center is keeping an eye on the dolphin and says it is not considered to be stranded. It is most likely made its way from the ocean and into Raritan Bay which feeds the South River, in search of food. “Raritan Bay and the area around Sandy Hook is loaded with bait fish — more than normal, so we’ve had numerous sightings of humpback whales and dolphins in the Raritan Bay/Sandy Hook area,” he told MyCentralJersey.com. “It’s not unusual for dolphins to follow the bait fish.”

Schultz says that the dolphin's color shows it has been in fresh water for several days which makes it uncomfortable. "We’re hoping he’s uncomfortable enough that he will swim out with high tide."